How Business Stress Affects Your Total Health and Wellness

In the working world, there are endless sources of stress, both major and minor. Stress can come from any quarter in a business environment, whether it’s constant worry over deadlines, an abusive boss, or something as overwhelming as actually losing your job.

Distress, or negative stress, can take a serious toll on your wellbeing, which is evident in all the bad feelings you might be having. But it can hurt you in a lot more ways than simply the mental aspect. Distress harms the physical health, emotional stability, and mental wellbeing in ways that aren’t always immediately apparent.

On a physical level, stressors (factors that cause stress) cause an immediate physiological reaction, called a stress response. The pituitary gland begins to release adrenaline into the bloodstream, which results in temporarily heightened alertness and increased heart rate, intended to deliver more oxygen to the body in case of “fight or flight”.

But over an extended period of time, this natural response becomes highly detrimental to the body. Prolonged stress causes high blood pressure, fatigue, stomachache and digestive issues, muscle tension, a suppressed immune system, headaches, and even joint pain. Stress is also known to disrupt the sleep cycle, which negatively affects the body in every way imaginable.

Stress affects personal mental health by overburdening the brain with stress input. Over time, this can contribute to anxiety, depression, disordered eating behaviors, logical disorientation, and general hormonal imbalances. And if you’re already losing sleep due to stress, the mental effects will be even further exacerbated.

Emotionally, stress can unbalance even the strongest-willed. Stress puts an additional burden on the already taxed emotional health of working individuals, and often results in emotional fragility, mood swings, irritability, racing thoughts, and extreme low self-esteem.

Business stress can affect all of us, from the hourly wageworker to the high-level executive. A retail employee feels the stress of sales and customer interaction on a daily basis. A white-collar desk worker may feel overwhelmed by the enormous workload of account spreadsheets they have to finish by Friday. A wealthy CEO may agonize long nights over tough downsizing decisions or necessary layoffs. No one is exempt from the stress of the working world.

Since small business owners are typically carrying more financial burdens and responsibilities than other working adults, business stress can be an overwhelming obstacle. If owning a business becomes so stressful that it begins to damage your overall health and wellness, it’s time to think about selling. Having a property valuation done professionally is a good first step to take in selling a business and can alleviate some stress you might have about the market value of your assets.

Being a working adult is never an easy task, but it is possible to manage stress in a healthy way to stop it from causing damage. Some useful stress management techniques can include getting adequate exercise, setting aside time for a full night of sleep, eating a more balanced diet, and making time each day for mindful relaxation. In the world of business, it is worth the effort to make time for stress relief, so try asking yourself: How can you make positive steps towards handling the stress of your own work life?